Title: The Dead and the Dying
Author: Vadim
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Nothing, but the ideas is mine, maybe some new characters, that's it. Everything belongs to Joss Whedon and all that other good stuff!
Summary- Couple months after gift. All seems peaceful in Sunnydale, Christmas is days away. New Year's. Everyone is in a pretty somber mood. What they don't know is that something "BIG" is brewing down south. Buffy brought back. But not by who you think!!
Sunnydale - December 23, 2001
1630 Revello Drive was now fully submersed in the morning clouds. But it was still pretty warm out across the Sunnydale Streets during the coldest month of the year. Sunnydale hadn't had a White Christmas in many years and things weren't looking any different this year. But as far as Anya was concerned none of that mattered as long as she got what she wanted for Christmas.
" Hey everyone, it's Sunday! Only two more days till Christmas! Isn't this exciting?"
" Bloody 'ell..." Spike murmured, half-asleep, as he twisted in the armchair. " Will someone please shut 'er up...?"
" Hey, watch it. " Xander was quick to respond from his position on the couch. " That's my fiancée you're talking about."
" Presents and presents and even more presents, some eggnog, some turkey, then more presents! Yea!!" Anya continued parading around the house until everyone was involuntarily awake.
" Anya, sweetheart, shut up!" Xander had finally snapped and now joined Spike in protest.
" Hmmmph." Anya pouted and went into the kitchen to join the two witches in making breakfast.
Spike was in the process of getting up when the sound of familiar footsteps grabbed his attention.
" Mornin' sunshine, " Spike greeted the seemingly sleep-walking zombie girl.
"...Morn...ing..." mumbled the zombie girl named Dawn as she groggily made her way down the steps.
" Well, seems someone didn't want to get up just yet. " Spike chuckled.
" ...oomph..." Dawn slightly nodded her head and proceeded to the kitchen.
She had been crying that night. She had walked back to her room and had cried herself to sleep. Her hair was down, over her face, so Spike didn't notice the red marks under her eyes.
Willow walked in from the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas, smiling as always.
" We got omelets cooking as we speak, and also those little sausages, which everyone likes, and of course, muffins. I think there's some O J left in the fridge and I'm also positive I saw some packets of blood somewhere in there. "
" Ah, blood, the breakfast of champions, " Spike said as he made his way to the bathroom. " But first, gotta use the John."
" So what are we going to do about the whole ' Buffy ' situation? " Xander questioned Willow once Spike had left the room.
" I don't know. I believe Spike, I guess...but it just seems so strange...so confusing." Willow shrugged her shoulders with frustration and plopped down on the couch.
" Why now? Who? Who could've brought her back and why? Xander pondered. " At first thought, I'd have guessed it was Spike himself, but he seems just as surprised as anyone. I still think it could've been his imagination or maybe the Buffybot. Did she even come back last night?"
" I don't think so. Unless we were asleep, but then she probably would've woken us, but what if something happened to her...something bad...maybe she couldn't defend herself or something...oh no..."
" Willow, Willow, come down. The Buffybot was probably what Spike had hit."
" But...but Spike said that she...she was bleeding and that she attacked him."
" Well, the blood part could've just been in Spike's mind, and the part about her beating him up, well who'd blame her. Hell, Spike is just about on everyone's hit list, and toss in that part about getting hit by a car. Seems to me that it was the Buffybot."
" Then why didn't she come home?"
" The impact probably fried some circuits."
The creaking of the bathroom doorknob broke up the conversation.
" Ah, that was relaxin' 'nough, " Spike looked up at the two.
" Sure did take you a pretty long time, " Xander smirked.
" Well, you know us drinkers. But actually picked up a good piece of conversation, you know, with my vampire senses and all." Suddenly Spike's smile disappeared and was quickly replaced with an evil stare. " I repeat, I saw Buffy Anne Summers last night, and I won't rest till I bloody well find 'er."
He swiftly made his way in between the two Scoobies, grabbed his duster, and straight out the front door he went.
" I'm outta 'ere..." he called back as he disappeared out the door.
Xander and Willow, just stood there, staring at the door then at each other.
" The sun!" Xander yelled as he rushed towards the door.
" Oh my...Spike...sun!!!" Willow sped behind Xander towards the door, as the others came in from the kitchen upon hearing the yelling.
The blinds were down last night. Could Spike have possible forgotten about the sun?
Xander, fearing the worst, flung open the door and ran out.
" Oh shit!" He just stood there, taking in all the water as it slowly progressed down his face and soon the rest of his body. Standing there, soaking wet, he watched the water droplets form puddles in the cracks of the driveway. His eyes then shifted to the figure progressing down the sidewalk, also taking in all the rain.
" What the...?!?" Willow was astonished to be met by the huge downpour of water.
Xander just stood there astonished. There wasn't a speck of bright sky for miles, as the dark clouds encompassed Sunnydale.
" But...how did you know?!?!" Xander yelled over the crashing water to the progressing figure.
Spike just kept on walking and without turning around just pointed to his head. Xander barely made out what Spike was signaling through the blinding rain.
" Oh yeah, " Xander remembered. " The senses."
" Oh." Willow looked on, astonished.
*****************************
Outskirts of Houston, Texas - December 23, 2001
The sun was bright, but could hardly be seen inside the house. Riley and Harmony were still cuddled in bed, as they had been for the past six hours. The rest of the troops were in the basement, where they spent most of the daytime. The farm wasn't too shabby. The walls had held up, electricity was running, and the hot water was around for most of the day. The kitchen, the biggest room in the house, was currently occupied by Doc and Hank.
" Hey, not that I don't like being a...vampire...and all, but you think maybe after everything is said and done...well...maybe you could turn...m...me back?" Hank was one of them and had gotten to know most of them, but some tension still lurked around the house.
" Well, Hank, that's a mighty big favor to ask at such a time." Doc paced around the kitchen , but stopped to think it over. Finally, " It'll be tough, but...okay."
" You mean it?" Hank Summers was astonished at the quickness of this reply.
" Sure, why not? I mean if everything goes according to plan and everyone that needs to get killed off, gets killed off, well then sure you can be human again. I don't know why you'd want to be, though."
" So you still haven't explained it to me fully, Doc. What are we doing?"
Doc took a sigh. " Damn it! I really hate vampires. why did it have to be vampires...especially this moron..."
" Listen, Hank. Your daughter and her friends ruined something really important to me. She is now dead and they're too incompetent to see what is happening. Her watcher is out of the picture and the vampire, just as well, should be."
" Vampire?"
" Yes. It seems that the slayer had befriended a vampire. Not just any vampire. A master vampire. I believe they called him...Spike...I think. Yes, Spike it was."
" Well this Spike shouldn't pose much of a threat to the plan, should he?"
Doc sat down and warily drank his coffee.
" From what I know, he was so broken up about her death that he went and killed every demon, good or bad, that he could get his hands on. He is feared around the world, but his emotions can get the better of him."
" What about...Buffy? I mean is she dead for good or...you know." Hank asked, hoping that he could get yet one more glimpse at his daughter.
" First off, you have no soul. You shouldn't care. But just to let you know, between her...friends... there are two witches, a former demon, a vampire, a watcher, and the...key...or should I say former key. Between them they probably think that they could bring her back, and all the better, I really wanted to kill her myself, especially after she threw me...well that's another story...now go. Leave me alone. I've got to think."
Hank didn't say much else. His question about the plan wasn't answered, but he wasn't one to try and ask again. He just walked back to the basement to join the already progressing poker game.
The bedroom door flew open with a bang. Doc's head flew up. " Oh hell, why must I put up with this."
" Oh shit. That was the best fucking sex I've had in my whole life...and shit, I'm dead." Riley grandly held his head up high, slyly grinning.
" It wasn't too bad for me either, Capt-, I mean Riley." Harmony had slowly come up to his side, covered in a thin and rather loose robe.
Riley's smile quickly disappeared as he store down Harmony.
" Excuse me?"
" Oh sorry, guess I spent too much time around Spiky."
" I always hated that guy."
" But you should've seen him in be---" Harmony had crossed that invisible line again, which indicated that she should better shut up. Quickly. " I mean...me too. I really hate him also." She continued with a strange twinkle in her eyes as she looked away.
" So when are we out of here?"
Doc, realizing the question was addressed to him, got up and walked to Riley.
" Tonight, once the sun sets. I have reservations made for a flight to Los Angeles. We depart at 9 p.m."
The words, Los Angeles, brought the smile back to Riley's face.
" Ah, good. Maybe while we're there we can pay Angel a little visit."
" Oh Angel!" Harmony hopped up and down with joy. " I saw him a few months ago. He and his group had me trapped and were going to kill me, but thought better of it. I always thought Angel was a pretty nice guy." The last comment brought an evil glare from Riley. " Sorry."
" No matter." Doc stepped in. " Los Angeles is not what we're after, at least not yet. Right now we are heading to Sunnydale to finish some unfinished business.
" Yes, unfinished business." Riley walked away to the basement, leaving Harmony with the ' old guy '.
**********************************
Sunnydale- Dec. 23, 2001
As the rain dripped down his face, Spike realized that in his outrage he had left the Taurus parked in the Summer's driveway. It was too late to go back now as he had almost reached his crypt.
****************
Buffy Anne Summers opened her eyes to take in the world and maybe, today, understand it. It was the beginning of her second day back. Back from what, she did not know. All she knew, or thought she knew, was that she was dead. For months she had been stuck in darkness. There was no such thing as time where she was, so she was dumbfounded when she woke up into the night. By the decorations outside she knew it was somewhere around Christmas time. What year? What decade? Not a clue.
She felt very much alive in her short afterlife. Despite the complete darkness, she could still see images. Images of people, people she knew. Or thought she knew. She walked around, even ran, and sometimes jumped in the dark emptiness. But there was nothing around her. She slept, or thought she slept, and walked around, that's it. Despite there not being any light or anything at all in this 'limbo', she was able to hear. Who or what she was listening to, she did not know. She didn't care. It was something, and something was enough. There were two voices, out of the many, that stood out in her head. It was that of a girl and a man, talking. They were planning something. Their particular conversation kept reappearing in her mind. It was something important. That she was sure of.
Soon after hearing the conversation, the darkness disappeared and she was brought into the light. How soon after, she couldn't decipher.
It was a new day and the sound of the rain had awoken her. She had no memory and, more importantly right now, she had no money. She had stuck around the streets from the previous night. She had gone back to the only place that had brought any interest to her.
' The Magic Shop' wasn't exactly Fort Knox so the bewildered slayer had no problem getting in.
Earlier that night she had explored the store, which was stocked with various liquids and powders and lots of weird stuff. It brought a certain feeling to her gut. She would give anything to remember the slightest thing. Anything. Tears had stormed her eyes and had stuck around for a couple hours as she let out her emotion. She was crying. Once again, she didn't really know for who or what?
At the current moment she had raised herself from the wooden chair she had fallen asleep on. The wooden table wasn't that bad of a pillow considering it was a wooden table. She rubbed her eyes, gave out a quick yawn, and plumped her head back down on the table. She looked off to the side, twirling a strand of her golden hair, trying to think. She thought of the previous night's events.
" Spike...Spike...God, that name sounds so familiar...he knew me...I hurt him...why?...he called me Buffy...he knew me...he hit me with a car...didn't hurt much...why?...maybe I'll go find him today...needle in a haystack...but...it's a start..."
She floated back into reality with the realization that she had broken into a store and the owner could be back soon. She looked around. A store. Stores have cash registers.
" Duh...Buffy...wake up...money...but stealing is bad...it's wrong...fuck it...guess I'll be a bad girl..."
She hurried around the counter and straight to the register. As she tried to get it open, she glanced around curiously and noticed a photo to the right of the register. It was of a man and a woman. They were embraced and laughing. Buffy's first thought was that these two were in love. It sparked something in her head, as if she was about to remember, but it quickly faded away, leaving her in emptiness again. Back to the register.
" Guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way..."
She had felt a certain strength about her since she had first awoken, but it was only realized now. She took the defenseless register off the desk and proceeded to drop it repeatedly to the hard, wooden floor. On the third attempt she huffed and puffed and put all her emotions into the thrust. The wooden planks of the floor sprang up with a thundering boom. Parts of the register were scattered amongst the pieces of wood. What had caught Buffy's attention was the money. Appearently the owner had forgotten to empty it. There was easily three hundred in there, but she wasn't greedy. $250 was plenty. After all, she was a nice person at heart. Picking up the money from the floor, she noticed a black umbrella under the counter. Taking a glance out to the street she quickly grabbed it and scurried out into the rain.
" Mr. Spike...I hope you're still out there...somewhere..."
In a swift motion she propped open the umbrella and proceeded down the street. Where? This is what she'd leave up to fate.
**************************************
Breakfast is just what Dawn needed. She was looking forward to Willow's omelets and Tara's pancakes. Just as she was about to sit herself to the greatest breakfast she ever had, the yelling had shattered everything. She quickly sprang out of her chair, with new life in her legs, and raced to the door. Appearently she was too late as all that she had caught was the shocked expressions on everyone's faces.
"What happened?" She cried as she searched Willow's face for some kind of sign.
" Spike..." Xander gulped, " ...left."
" What do you mean he left. What the hell did you say to him?"
" Hey Dawny, be careful with you're choice of words." Tara tried to sound as supportive as possible in this time of shock.
" We...we didn't believe him." Willow said with tears slowly developing in her eyes. " He overheard Xander and me talking, 'bout Buffy and...well he was extremely hurt...and he stormed out."
" Yeah, we thought he was gonna become Spike toast in the sun and all, but evidently Spike was one step ahead of us. " Anya didn't look like it, but inside she was nervous for Spike. They had bounded. He was her friend.
" So you don't believe that Buffy is alive?" Dawn was pissed and she showed it.
" No...it's not that, Dawnster. It's just that this is so shocking. After all these months. Why now? How? The picture is just so blurry still."
" I know Spike. And if Spike said he saw Buffy, then he saw Buffy." Her own statement brought a chill down her back. " I'll be in my room!"
She ran upstairs with unprecedented speed.
" Dawn, wait!" Willow cried. But it was too late. Her words were drowned out by the sound of the door slamming.
" Damn!" a frustrated Xander let out as he made his way towards the couch.
*******************
The gates to the cemetery fluttered against the harsh wind. The rain had loosened up a bit and the visibility had improved. Spike reached the gates and flung them open. His boots compressed the muddy grass beneath them as he made his way towards home. In the distant field of grass and freshly made graves, a figure came into Spike's view.
" 'nother one bites the dust." He said to himself as he began to open the door to his crypt. He had a feeling to look back at the figure again. He went with it. He looked up and the figure took a better shape. It was a woman. She was huddled over, what appeared to be, a fresh grave. Spike started to stroll in her direction, paying close attention to the quickly dispersing clouds.
" Shit!" He thought about heading back, but instead just quickened his pace. Quickly, his fast pace turned into a full out sprint. His boots were leaving faint impressions in the mud as he ran across the field of graves.
" What in the he..l..l?" Spike stumbled to a harsh stop about twenty yards from the woman.
As closer inspection, Spike realized that this was in fact, a fairly young woman. The black umbrella she had over her head kept her identity a secret, but Spike remembered the clothes. What amazed him even more was that she wasn't huddled over a new grave, but instead, a freshly dug up one. The headstone was still there, but Spike couldn't make out the name. The location seemed familiar. The big tree hovered above the grave. Spike had visited this grave everyday since it was made. Yet still, it had not fully hit him yet. He knew what and who he was looking at, but the words were still catching up to him. The young lady filled them in for him.
" Buffy Anne Summers, " she began, just barely audible to Spike's ears. " She saved the world a lot." She took a deep breath and continued without moving from her position. " Guess I did, didn't I?"
Spike was silent, still trying to take it all in.
" I didn't know where I was going. I just walked and my feet brought me here. Now I know why. Was it a heroic death, Spike?"
Spike just stood there. He was taken back by the whole scene, but especially by what she said. A word just floated out of his mouth. He had no intent to say anything, just stand there and listen, but his mouth just opened.
" Buffy...that you?"
" Yeah, it's me, Spike.
" But how'd ya know...it...?"
" Spike, after all these years, you think I'd be able to know." Buffy remembered virtually nothing and at this point was sure that she had not known Spike for a period more than two days. But he knew her and that was all that was important. She felt comfortable, for some reason, using the word 'years'.
" But you...you were dead...Buffy..." Spike walked closer to the kneeling figure.
" Yeah, I've been wondering about the same thing. Something inside told me that you could help me. Will you?"
" Buffy...you're here...you're really here..."
" Yeah, we got that point across, so you gonna help a girl out or what?" She slowly got up and turned towards Spike.
Spike could've gotten staked at that very moment and would've died at peace. This was the happiest moment of this vamp's existence. Just that one moment, in which she looked into his eyes, brought tears to his. She was smiling at him carelessly, not knowing what she meant to him. His eyes were passionately locked onto hers. Her blue eyes sparkled as she gave him a sly grin.
" Something wrong?" She asked the vamp, who had not taken his eyes off her.
" You're b...beautiful...just the way I remember you." Spike finally spoke.
" I...don't know what to...um...say...thanks...I guess." Buffy was lost as to the intentions of her new acquaintance.
" Why?" He asked of her.
" Why what?"
" Why were you brought back?"
" That's what I'm trying to find out. Right now, I have no memory, no nothing. The only person I could turn to was...well...you."
" Bloody sons of bitches couldn't leave you alone. They couldn't let you rest in peace. Always thinking of ways they can help their sorry asses!" Spike looked out to the sky.
The clouds were almost completely gone, except for one. As if by some miracle, the one cloud had blocked out the sun, giving enough time for the conversation.
" I thought you were glad to see me?" She again was very confused.
" Luv, all I ever wanted was to see your face again. But you suffered enough. You've saved this bleedin' shit of a world so many bloody times, you'd think they'd let you off the hook. Damn them!"
" Yeah, I'm still a little fuzzy on that whole ' saved the world a lot' bit. I know I'm Buffy. I know you're Spike. And I'm positive I know so much more, but I just can't remember."
" Hell, luv, you just came back from the land of the dead. How I don't know, but you did. You're not supposed to know everything just yet. It's a workin' progress and I'll be there with you every step of the way." Spike was looking back at Buffy now.
" Thanks." She smiled and started walking towards the crypt.
" Where you going?" Spike asked as he followed behind her, keeping a watchful eye on the sky.
" I don't know. I have this strange feeling that you'd much rather be indoors right now."
" You know." Spike smiled.
" Know what? " The bewildered Buffy asked.
" That...well...I'm a vamp."
" Well yeah. I can't remember, yeah, but I'm not dumb. You hang out in the cemetery, you keep looking up at the sky checking for the sun, and that whole non-breathing thing kind of gives you away." She giggled.
" Yeah, guess it does. Well, lil' miss Nancy Drew, I'm guessing you know where I live also."
" I got an idea, " she laughed, as she led the way to his crypt.
" Lead the way, luv."
Spike stopped to tie his unlaced boot, as Buffy continued towards the crypt. He got up and looked at the beautiful slayer as she strode ahead. He gave a quick smirk and went to catch up. Buffy stopped at the door and waited for Spike.
" After you, my vampire friend."
"No, no, ladies first," Spike gave way to the slayer and followed behind, closing the door behind them.
The sun struck the door with full blast as it swung shut.
TBC...